Cited by 239Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesSleep and related disordersMental Health Research Topics

Sleep and suicide: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

Open access
Liu, Richard T., Steele, Stephanie J., Hamilton, Jessica L., Do, Quyen B.P., Furbish, Kayla, Burke, Taylor A., Martinez, Ashley P., Gerlus, Nimesha·2020·Clinical Psychology Review

Abstract

The current review provides a quantitative synthesis of the empirical literature on sleep disturbance as a risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). A systematic search of PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and the references of prior reviews resulted in 41 eligible studies included in this meta-analysis. Sleep disturbance, including insomnia, prospectively predicted STBs, yielding small-to-medium to medium effect sizes for these associations. Complicating interpretation of these findings however, is that few studies of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, as well as none of suicide deaths, assessed short-term risk (i.e., employed follow-up assessments of under a month). Such studies are needed to evaluate current conceptualizations of sleep dysregulation as being involved in acute risk for suicidal behavior. This want of short-term risk studies also suggests that current clinical recommendations to monitor sleep as a potential warning sign of suicide risk has a relatively modest empirical basis, being largely driven by cross-sectional or retrospective research. The current review ends with recommendations for generating future research on short-term risk and greater differentiation between acute and chronic aspects of sleep disturbance, and by providing a model of how sleep disturbance may confer risk for STBs through neuroinflammatory and stress processes and associated impairments in executive control.

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Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101895

Cites

100 of 100 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

22 of 62 cited sources checked · 17 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

  • Premisecitation

    Four of the prior systematic reviews were meta-analyses.

    “Although four of these prior systematic reviews were meta-analyses (Chiu et al., 2018; Liu, Tu, et al., 2019; Malik et al., 2014; Pigeon et al., 2012)”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Chiu et al., 2018 source
    • cites Liu, Tu, et al., 2019

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Malik et al., 2014 source
  • Premisecitation

    Risk factors found in non-clinical or community samples may generalize poorly to clinical or high-risk individuals seen by mental health providers.

    “Furthermore, risk factors identified in non-clinical or community samples may be of limited generalizability to the clinical or high-risk individuals more often encountered by mental health care providers (for examples, see King, Berona, Czyz, Horwitz, & Gipson, 2015; Yen et al., 2013; for a related discussion, see Millman, Gold, Mittal, & Schiffman, 2019).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim3 of 3 sources checked
    • cites King, Berona, Czyz, Horwitz, & Gipson, 2015 source

      The Methods describe a study of adolescents who screened positive for suicide risk in a general emergency department, so the paper serves as an example of research in a high-risk care-seeking group. The Discussion questions whether its own findings generalize to adolescents in other EDs, but it does not assess whether risk factors identified in non-clinical or community samples generalize poorly to clinical or high-risk individuals. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • cites Yen et al., 2013 source
      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • cites Millman, Gold, Mittal, & Schiffman, 2019 source
  • Premisereasoning

    Longer follow-up periods are most often used to maximize the number of suicidal thoughts and behaviors available for analysis.

    “an obstacle most often addressed by including longer follow-up periods so as to maximize the number of STBs available for analysis (Bredemeier & Miller, 2015; Franklin et al., 2017; Wenzel et al., 2011), thus the pattern found in the current review of median follow-up lengths increasing substantially with severity of STB.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Bredemeier & Miller, 2015 source

      The Discussion section (‘Alternative study designs’; page not provided) identifies extending follow-up as a way to address the low incidence of suicidality in prospective studies. It does not say longer follow-ups are the most often used approach or report how frequently researchers use them. (LLM, conf=0.84)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • cites Franklin et al., 2017 source
    • cites Wenzel et al., 2011 source
    • Rests on an assumption: Suicide attempts and deaths are low-base-rate events, with attempts relatively infrequent in the general population and deaths considerably rarer.
  • Premisereasoning

    Achieving sufficient statistical power for meaningful analysis is a methodological challenge in suicide research.

    “This introduces the not insignificant methodological challenge in the study of suicide of achieving sufficient statistical power for meaningful analysis (American Psychiatric Association, 2004; Borges et al., 2006; Klonsky et al., 2016; Nock et al., 2008; Prinstein, 2008; Prinstein et al., 2008), an obstacle most often addressed by including longer follow-up periods so as to maximize the number of”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites American Psychiatric Association, 2004

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Borges et al., 2006 source
    • cites Klonsky et al., 2016 source
    • Rests on an assumption: Suicide attempts and deaths are low-base-rate events, with attempts relatively infrequent in the general population and deaths considerably rarer.
  • Premisecitation

    There is some experimental evidence that ketamine may reduce suicidality through normalizing sleep.

    “Even more implicative of a possible causal role for sleep disturbance in suicide risk, again in terms of suicidal ideation, there is some experimental evidence that ketamine may exert an anti-suicidal effect through its effect on normalizing sleep (Vande Voort et al., 2017).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Vande Voort et al., 2017 source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 22
  • May combine two claims. 42
  • The quote only partly states this claim. 1
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Sleep disruption has been conceptualized as a manifestation of the over-arousal characteristic of acute suicide risk.

    “sleep disruption has been conceptualized as a manifestation of the over-arousal characteristic of this period of acute suicide risk (Ribeiro et al., 2015; Rogers et al., 2016; Tucker et al., 2016).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Ribeiro et al., 2015 source
    • cites Rogers et al., 2016 source
    • cites Tucker et al., 2016 source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Several current theoretical perspectives hold that acute suicide risk occurs during relatively short-lived periods of heightened arousal or agitation.

    “several current theoretical perspectives hold that acute suicide risk occurs during relatively short-lived periods of heightened arousal or agitation (Deisenhammer et al., 2009; Miller & Prinstein, 2019; Tucker et al., 2016; Wolfe-Clark & Bryan, 2017)”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites Deisenhammer et al., 2009 source
    • cites Miller & Prinstein, 2019 source
    • cites Tucker et al., 2016 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    A more recent meta-analysis focusing exclusively on psychiatric patient samples categorized 11 studies as employing a longitudinal design, and just six of these featured longitudinal analyses.

    “A more recent meta-analysis, focusing exclusively on psychiatric patient samples (Malik et al., 2014) categorized 11 studies as employing a longitudinal design, and just six of these featured longitudinal analyses.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Malik et al., 2014 source

      The Results section (‘Description and quality of included studies’; page unavailable) reports that 11 of 19 studies were prospective, supporting the count of longitudinal designs. The paper concerns psychiatric patients, but the passages do not establish that only six of those studies performed longitudinal analyses; searches for that distinction found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.86)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    I2 values of approximately 25%, 50%, and 75% indicate low, moderate, and substantial heterogeneity, respectively.

    “Low heterogeneity is indicated by I2 values of approximately 25%, and moderate heterogeneity by I2 values of 50%. Substantial heterogeneity attributed to real differences in study samples and methodology is indicated by an I2 value of 75%”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Higgins et al., 2003 source

      In “How much is too much heterogeneity?” (page not indicated), the paper tentatively labels I² values of 25%, 50%, and 75% as low, moderate, and high. It cautions that these labels are not appropriate in every circumstance; a value of 75% alone does not establish that differences in study samples and methodology caused the heterogeneity. (LLM, conf=0.84)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Psychosocial stress impairs sleep.

    “Although it has been proposed that this theory may apply to suicide (Bernert & Joiner, 2007) and psychosocial stress does indeed impair sleep (Kim & Dimsdale, 2007), this possibility remains untested.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kim & Dimsdale, 2007 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Chronic or relatively stable processes and characteristics are likely more relevant to long-term or general risk, and their low temporal variance makes them less able to predict short-term risk robustly.

    “This is an important consideration because chronic or relatively stable processes and characteristics are likely more relevant to understanding long-term or general risk (Glenn et al., 2017), and their relatively low temporal variance means they lack the temporal sensitivity required to be robust predictors of short-term risk.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Glenn et al., 2017 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    A few studies found evidence that the sleep-STB association is unidirectional: sleep predicts later suicidal thoughts and behaviors, at least suicidal ideation, but suicidal ideation does not predict later sleep behavior.

    “It is therefore noteworthy that in addition to demonstrating temporal precedence in the relation between sleep disturbance and STBs, a few studies have found evidence that this association is unidirectional; not only does sleep temporally predict STBs, at least in the case of suicidal ideation, but suicidal ideation, in turn, does not predict subsequent sleep behavior (Littlewood et al., 2019;”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Littlewood et al., 2019 source
    • cites Ribeiro et al., 2012 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    State-sensitive phenomena are more promising for short-term risk and likely poor indicators of long-term risk.

    “Contrastingly, state-sensitive phenomena are more promising candidates for short-term risk (Glenn & Nock, 2014) and likely poor indicators of long-term risk.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Glenn & Nock, 2014 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Sleep disturbance, including insomnia, prospectively predicted suicidal thoughts and behaviors, with effect sizes ranging from small-to-medium to medium.

    “Sleep disturbance, including insomnia, prospectively predicted STBs, yielding small-to-medium to medium effect sizes for these associations.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Few studies of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, and none of suicide deaths, assessed short-term risk using follow-up assessments of under a month.

    “few studies of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, as well as none of suicide deaths, assessed short-term risk (i.e., employed follow-up assessments of under a month).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Only two studies examined sleep disturbance in relation to suicide attempts over a follow-up of one month or less, and none examined this for suicide deaths.

    “As only two studies evaluated sleep disturbance in relation to suicide attempts over a follow-up period of one month or briefer, and none in the case of sleep disturbance predicting suicide deaths”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Studies of overall sleep disturbance predicting later suicidal ideation over less than a year had significantly larger effects than studies with follow-ups of a year or more, and follow-up length remained a significant moderator in meta-regression.

    “Supportive of an influence of length of follow-up on weighted effect sizes, studies of overall sleep disturbance prospectively predicting suicidal ideation over a period of under a year yielded significantly larger effects than did those with follow-ups of a year or more, and the moderator effect of follow-up length remained significant in a meta-regression analysis.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    For insomnia and later suicide attempts, Egger's test indicated significant publication bias, and trim-and-fill correction produced a larger pooled effect, adjusted d = .44, 95% CI .15 to .73.

    “In both cases, Egger’s regression test indicated the existence of significant publication bias. Trim-and-fill analyses and corresponding funnel plots (Figures 2d and 2e), however, indicated whereas correcting for publication bias would yield a smaller pooled effect for suicidal ideation (adjusted d = .37, 95% CI = .25 – .49), it would produce a larger pooled effect in the case of suicide attempts”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    In the case of sleep disturbance in relation to later suicide attempts, only suicide measure type emerged as a significant moderator, with a larger pooled effect observed for questionnaire measures (d = .53, 95% CI .27-.79) than for interview-based ones (d = .12, 95% CI −.08-.32).

    “In the case of sleep disturbance in relation to later suicide attempts, only suicide measure type emerged as a significant moderator, with a larger pooled effect observed for questionnaire measures (d = .53, 95% CI = .27 – .79) than for interview-based ones (d = .12, 95% CI = −.08 – .32).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    For insomnia, median follow-up increased from 10.5 months for suicidal ideation to two years for suicide attempts to 8.7 years for suicide deaths.

    “A nearly identical pattern was observed for insomnia, with median follow-ups increasing from 10.5 months for suicidal ideation to two years for suicide attempts to 8.7 years for suicide deaths.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    For hypersomnia and suicidal ideation, the pooled effect was trivial and non-significant, d = .09, 95% CI −.07 to .25.

    “Overall, evidence for an association between hypersomnia and STBs appeared modest, with non-significant pooled effects that were trivial for suicidal ideation (d = .09, 95% CI = −.07 – .25) and small-to-medium for suicide attempts (d = .31, 95% CI = −.56 – 1.17).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    In univariate moderator analyses, sleep measure type and length of study follow-up assessment moderated the association between sleep disturbance and prospective suicidal ideation.

    “In univariate moderator analyses, sleep measure type and length of study follow-up assessment moderated the association between sleep disturbance and prospective suicidal ideation.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    For overall sleep disturbance and later suicide deaths, trim-and-fill and the funnel plot indicated that the literature may underestimate the association, with adjusted d = .58, 95% CI .31 to .86.

    “As for sleep disturbance in relation to prospective suicide deaths, Egger’s regression test yielded no evidence of publication bias whereas both the trim-and-fill analysis and the corresponding funnel plot (Figure 2c) suggested that the existing literature may underestimate the strength of this association (adjusted d = .58, 95% CI = .31 – .86).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    When follow-up lengths of a month or briefer versus over a month were considered, both length of follow-up assessment (b = .26, p < .01) and sleep measure type (b = .26, p = .02) remained significant moderators, with this multivariate model accounting for 67% of the variance in effect sizes for the association between sleep disturbance and suicidal ideation.

    “When follow-up lengths of a month or briefer versus over a month were considered, both length of follow-assessment (b = .26, p < .01) and sleep measure type (b = .26, p = .02) remained significant moderators, with this multivariate model account for 67% of the variance in effect sizes for the association between sleep disturbance and suicidal ideation.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    For insomnia predicting suicide deaths, the pooled effect was small-to-medium, d = .30, 95% CI .20 to .41, with follow-ups from one to 36 years and a median of 8.7 years.

    “As for insomnia as a predictor of suicide deaths, a small-to-medium pooled effect was found (d = .30, 95% CI = .20 – .41), with follow-ups ranging from one to 36 years (median follow-up length = 8.7 years).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims. The quote only partly states this claim.

    Findingown data

    For hypersomnia and suicide attempts, the pooled effect was small-to-medium and non-significant, d = .31, 95% CI −.56 to 1.17.

    “Overall, evidence for an association between hypersomnia and STBs appeared modest, with non-significant pooled effects that were trivial for suicidal ideation (d = .09, 95% CI = −.07 – .25) and small-to-medium for suicide attempts (d = .31, 95% CI = −.56 – 1.17).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    For insomnia and later suicidal ideation, Egger's test indicated significant publication bias, and trim-and-fill correction produced a smaller pooled effect, adjusted d = .37, 95% CI .25 to .49.

    “In both cases, Egger’s regression test indicated the existence of significant publication bias. Trim-and-fill analyses and corresponding funnel plots (Figures 2d and 2e), however, indicated whereas correcting for publication bias would yield a smaller pooled effect for suicidal ideation (adjusted d = .37, 95% CI = .25 – .49), it would produce a larger pooled effect in the case of suicide attempts”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Significant heterogeneity was present for suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and suicide death, and thus moderator analyses were indicated.

    “Significant heterogeneity was present for suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, and suicide death, and thus moderator analyses were indicated.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingnone given

    None of the studies with suicide deaths had follow-ups shorter than a year.

    “Incidentally, none of the studies with suicide deaths included follow-ups briefer than a year.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    When follow-ups of one month or less were compared with longer follow-ups, the pooled effect was medium-to-large for up to one month and small-to-medium for longer follow-ups.

    “This finding held when follow-ups of a month or briefer were compared to longer follow-ups, with a medium-to-large pooled effect observed for follow-ups of up to one month compared to a small-to-medium pooled effect in the case of longer follow-ups.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    For suicide deaths, moderator analyses could not be conducted for age as a categorical variable, time-frame covered by the sleep measure, suicide measure type, time-frame covered by the suicide measure, and length of follow-up assessment.

    “In the case of suicide deaths, it was not possible to conduct moderator analyses for age as a categorical variable (i.e., all but one sample was with adults), time-frame covered by the sleep measure (i.e., all studies either had time-frames of less than a month or provided no information on this design feature), suicide measure type (i.e., all studies used death records), time-frame covered by the”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Only four included studies of overall sleep disturbance and suicide attempts had follow-ups under a year, compared with 13 studies for suicidal ideation.

    “Although follow-up length did not also significantly moderate the strength of the association between overall sleep disturbance and suicide attempts, only four of the included studies featured follow-ups of under a year, in contrast to 13 in the case of suicidal ideation.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    For overall sleep disturbance, median follow-up increased with outcome severity: 10.5 months for suicidal ideation, two years for suicide attempts, and 10 years for suicide deaths.

    “For overall sleep disturbance, median follow-ups were quite substantial, increasing in duration with increasing severity of STB, from 10.5 months for suicidal ideation to two years for suicide attempts to 10 years for suicide deaths.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    A notable proportion of included studies did not report sample race data, and even fewer reported ethnicity, though reporting appears to have improved in recent years.

    “First, a notable proportion of studies did not report data on the race of their samples, and even fewer on ethnicity, although there appears to be improvement in reporting practices in more recent years.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Six studies of overall sleep disturbance and suicidal ideation had follow-ups of one month or less, while only two studies with suicide attempts had comparable follow-up intervals.

    “Six studies of overall sleep disturbance and suicidal ideation included follow-ups of one month or briefer, whereas only two studies with suicide attempts as the outcome featured follow-up intervals of comparable length.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Findingreasoning

    The final set comprised 41 articles included in the review.

    “This resulted in a final set of 41 articles included in the current review”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    A total of 26 unique effects were obtained for the association between sleep disturbance and prospective suicidal ideation, 13 for future suicide attempts, and 14 for associations with suicide deaths.

    “A total of 26 unique effects were obtained for the association between sleep disturbance and prospective suicidal ideation, 13 for future suicide attempts, and 14 for associations with suicide deaths”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    The study with the shortest follow-up for suicide attempts, three days, had the largest effect among studies with that outcome, d = .85.

    “Of note, the study with the briefest follow-up period for suicide attempts (i.e., three days; Ribeiro, Huang, Fox, Walsh, & Linthicum, 2019) yielded the largest effect (d = .85) among studies”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ribeiro, Huang, Fox, Walsh, & Linthicum, 2019 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning

    Significantly less empirical research has focused on the relationship between sleep indices and suicide outcomes using longitudinal designs, leaving unclear the strength of sleep disturbance as a true risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

    “Significantly less empirical research has focused on the relationship between sleep indices and suicide outcomes utilizing longitudinal designs, leaving unclear the strength of sleep disturbance as a true risk factor for STBs.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning

    Correlates are determined with cross-sectional designs, lack evidence of temporal precedence, cannot establish prospective prediction, and cannot be ruled out as concomitants or epiphenomena of the mental health outcome.

    “In contrast to risk factors, correlates are determined with cross-sectional designs and therefore lack evidence of temporal precedence; correlates cannot establish prospective prediction and cannot be ruled out as concomitants or epiphenomena of the mental health outcome of interest.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The pooled effects for sleep disturbance and suicidal thoughts and behaviors are generally similar in size to those in meta-analyses of psychological and psychopharmacology treatments for mental health conditions, often over shorter periods.

    “As additional context for interpreting these pooled effects, it may be noted that they are generally comparable in size to those found in meta-analyses of psychological and psychopharmacology therapies for a variety of mental health conditions, often over much briefer periods of time (e.g., Cuijpers et al., 2010, 2014; Weisz et al., 2017).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Cuijpers et al., 2010, 2014

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Weisz et al., 2017 source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Premisereasoning

    Studies with small effect sizes or non-significant findings are less likely to be published, may be more likely to be excluded from meta-analyses, and can result in a potentially inflated estimate of the overall effect size.

    “As studies with small effect sizes or non-significant findings are less likely to be published, these studies may be more likely to be excluded from meta-analyses, resulting in a potentially inflated estimate of the overall effect size.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    Except for a preliminary non-significant association between hypersomnia and later suicidal ideation, results across overall sleep disturbance, insomnia, hypersomnia, and nightmares consistently showed positive associations with all later suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

    “With the exception of a preliminary finding of a non-significant relation between hypersomnia and subsequent suicidal ideation, the results of analyses across several manifestations of sleep disturbance (i.e., overall disturbance, insomnia, hypersomnia, and nightmares) were consistent in yielding positive associations with all subsequent STBs (i.e., suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Standard guidelines classify Cohen's d of .20 as small, .50 as medium, and .80 as large.

    “Standard guidelines for Cohen’s d were used to determine the size of the effect (i.e., .20 = small effect size, .50 = medium, and .80 = large; Kraemer et al., 2003).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kraemer et al., 2003 source
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning

    Sleep disturbance may confer risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors through neuroinflammatory and stress processes and associated impairments in executive control.

    “providing a model of how sleep disturbance may confer risk for STBs through neuroinflammatory and stress processes and associated impairments in executive control.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    These reporting findings are generally consistent with a recent systematic review of sample-characteristic reporting in the suicide literature.

    “These findings are generally consistent with those in a recent systematic review of reporting practices of sample characteristics in the suicide literature (Cha et al., 2018).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Cha et al., 2018 source
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisereasoning

    Significant heterogeneity suggests the need to conduct moderator analyses to identify potential sources.

    “Significant heterogeneity suggests the need to conduct moderator analyses to identify potential sources of this heterogeneity.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductcitation

    Duval and Tweedie's trim-and-fill analysis and Egger's regression intercept were used to account for potential publication bias.

    “To account for the presence of potential publication bias, Duval and Tweedie’s trim-and-fill analysis (Duval & Tweedie, 2000) and Egger’s regression intercept (Egger et al., 1997) were used.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Duval & Tweedie, 2000 source
    • cites Egger et al., 1997 source
    • The authors state this as an assumption: Duval and Tweedie’s trim-and-fill procedure assumes homogeneity of effect sizes.
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    The body of literature has expanded considerably since the earlier meta-analysis, such that there are now sufficient longitudinal studies to observe the distinction between each form of suicidal thought and behavior in separate meta-analyses.

    “The body of literature has expanded considerably since then such that the small number of available longitudinal studies at the time necessitated collapsing across STBs in evaluating the association between sleep disturbance and suicide, whereas there are now a sufficient number of longitudinal studies to observe the important distinction between each form of STB in separate meta-analyses.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    The two remaining meta-analyses focused exclusively on sleep behavior in adolescents, with one featuring only two studies with longitudinal analyses included in the current review, and the other none.

    “The two remaining meta-analyses focused exclusively on sleep behavior in adolescents, with one featuring only two studies with longitudinal analyses included in the current review (Liu, Tu, et al., 2019), and the other none (Chiu et al., 2018).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Liu, Tu, et al., 2019

      Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

    • cites Chiu et al., 2018 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Only one systematic review has focused specifically on longitudinal associations between sleep and suicide, a narrative review of adolescent studies.

    “there has been only one systematic review focusing specifically on longitudinal associations between sleep and suicide, a narrative review of adolescent studies.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kearns et al., 2020 source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Interpretationreasoning

    A possible reason for the smaller interview effects is that most interview measures were not designed to assess sleep and instead used items from diagnostic depression interview modules.

    “It is possible that this finding emerged given that the majority of the interview measures used were not specifically designed to measure sleep, and instead used items pulled from diagnostic interview depression modules (e.g., Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    For overall sleep disturbance and insomnia, pooled effect sizes fell in the small-to-medium to medium range, ds = .30 to .50, and changed little after publication-bias adjustment.

    “For overall sleep disturbance and insomnia, both having a sizeable number of unique effects for quantitative analyses, the pooled effect sizes were all within the small-to-medium to medium range (ds = .30 to .50), which remained largely unchanged after adjusting for potential publication bias.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductnone given

    Each search result was independently reviewed for eligibility by two authors, with discrepancies resolved by a third author.

    “Each search result was independently reviewed for eligibility by two authors. In the event of a discrepancy between authors, it was resolved independently by a third author.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    Sleep disturbance and insomnia have enough predictive power to yield pooled effect sizes of ds ≥ .39 and .30, respectively, over long follow-up periods, which indicates their value for understanding suicide risk.

    “That sleep disturbance and insomnia have sufficient predictive power to produce pooled effect sizes of ds ≥ .39 and .30, respectively, for these outcomes over such lengthy stretches of time speaks to their value in understanding suicide risk.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    One prior meta-analysis found that cross-sectional designs may produce larger effect sizes (RR = 3.14) than longitudinal designs (RR = 1.94) in the relation between sleep disturbance and suicide risk.

    “one of these prior meta-analyses has found that cross-sectional designs may produce larger effect sizes (RR = 3.14) than longitudinal designs (RR = 1.94) in this relation (Pigeon et al., 2012).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Pigeon et al., 2012 source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    The majority of studies in that narrative review provided evidence of a prospective relation between sleep problems and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

    “The majority of the studies in this review provided evidence of a prospective relation between sleep problems and suicidal thoughts and behaviors (Kearns et al., 2020).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Kearns et al., 2020 source
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

    Premisereasoning

    Publication bias is an important consideration when conducting meta-analyses.

    “Publication bias is an important consideration when conducting meta-analyses.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationreasoning

    A conceptual model is outlined in which sleep disturbance participates in stress processes to confer suicide risk through neuroinflammation-induced impairments in executive control.

    “Finally, as a potential framework for future work in this area, a conceptual model is outlined, wherein sleep disturbance is involved in stress processes to confer suicide risk through neuroinflammation-induced impairments in executive control.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

    Premisecitation

    Life stress, especially interpersonal stressors, may play a prominent role in risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, particularly short-term risk.

    “There is accumulating evidence that life stress, particularly interpersonal stressors, may play a prominent role in risk for STB (Liu & Miller, 2014), especially short-term risk (Bagge et al., 2013).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 2 sources checked
    • cites Liu & Miller, 2014 source
    • cites Bagge et al., 2013 source
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationnone given

    Most studies to date have evaluated sleep disturbance as a long-term risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors, leaving unclear how well disrupted sleep predicts short-term risk.

    “The vast majority of studies to date, however, have evaluated sleep disturbance as a long-term risk factor for STBs, leaving unclear the degree to which disrupted sleep predicts short-term risk, a question of considerable clinical relevance, given that clinical risk assessments are more focused on determining whether an individual will engage in suicidal behavior in the near future.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
    • Rests on an assumption: Clinical risk assessments focus on determining whether an individual will engage in suicidal behavior in the near future.
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Social zeitgeber theory holds that psychosocial stress may increase depression risk by disrupting social routines and thereby biological circadian rhythms.

    “Interestingly, theoretical support for interpersonal stress leading to sleep dysregulation relevant to suicide risk may be found in the social zeitgeber theory (Ehlers et al., 1988). This theory holds that psychosocial stress may increase risk for depression by disrupting an individual’s social routines, and thereby their biological circadian rhythms.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Ehlers et al., 1988 source
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Suicide risk has been found to be elevated or increasing in several traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic populations.

    “Thorough reporting of sample sociodemographic characteristics is important for evaluating the generalizability of findings to traditionally underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, especially as risk for suicide has been found to be elevated or increasing in several of these populations (Sheftall et al., 2016).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites Sheftall et al., 2016 source
58 of 58
  • The authors state this as an assumption.

    Duval and Tweedie’s trim-and-fill procedure assumes homogeneity of effect sizes.

    “Of note, this procedure assumes homogeneity of effect sizes, so the results must be interpreted with caution in the context of significant heterogeneity.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Suicide attempts and deaths are low-base-rate events, with attempts relatively infrequent in the general population and deaths considerably rarer.

    “The reason for the want of research on short-term risk is that, although suicide is a leading cause of death (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019; World Health Organization, 2019), it is nevertheless a low-base-rate event; suicide attempts occur with relatively low frequency in the general population, and suicide deaths are considerably rarer still.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Clinical risk assessments focus on determining whether an individual will engage in suicidal behavior in the near future.

    “a question of considerable clinical relevance, given that clinical risk assessments are more focused on determining whether an individual will engage in suicidal behavior in the near future.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Several prominent suicide prevention organizations highlight sleep disturbance as a warning sign for suicidal behavior.

    “The want of short-term risk studies is all the more concerning when considered together with the fact that sleep disturbance, as mentioned above, is highlighted by several prominent suicide prevention organizations as a warning sign (i.e., precipitant) for suicidal behavior.”
4 of 4

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

Each contradiction between two passages listed here was confirmed by an independent check.

  • Discussion overlooks a second nonsignificant hypersomnia result

    Minor

    The discussion singles out hypersomnia and suicidal ideation as the nonsignificant exception, but the results also describe the pooled hypersomnia-suicide-attempt effect as nonsignificant.

  • Short-follow-up effect is off-center in its confidence interval

    Minor

    The reported effect of 0.61 is not centered in its stated 95% confidence interval: the limits have a midpoint of 0.12. The other reported meta-analytic intervals are approximately centered on their effects.

    Reported 0.61 · recomputed 0.12

  • Longer-follow-up effect is off-center in its confidence interval

    Minor

    The stated interval for the 0.34 effect has a midpoint of 0.105, far from the reported estimate. This exceeds any difference attributable to rounding.

    Reported 0.34 · recomputed 0.105

  • Longer-follow-up effect is not centered in its confidence interval

    Minor

    The reported effect of .34 is not the midpoint of its stated 95% confidence interval; the midpoint is .105. This discrepancy exceeds rounding to the printed precision.

    Reported 0.34 · recomputed 0.105

  • Short-follow-up effect is not centered in its confidence interval

    Minor

    The reported effect of .61 is not the midpoint of its stated 95% confidence interval; the midpoint is .12. The other reported effect and confidence interval in this comparison have the same problem.

    Reported 0.61 · recomputed 0.12

5 of 5

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Liu, R. T., Steele, S. J., Hamilton, J. L., Do, Q. B. P., Furbish, K., Burke, T. A., Martinez, A. P., & Gerlus, N.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Williams College (US)
  • University of Pittsburgh (US)
  • Boston University (US)
  • Brown University (US)
  • Duke University (US)
Corresponding author
Liu, Richard T.
Venue
Clinical Psychology Review
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-11
Volume
81
Pages
101895
ISSN
0272-7358 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3048003475
Cited by
239
References
100
Citations by year
2026: 49 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 3
FWCI
1.74
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Clinical Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Smith ScholarWorks (Smith College) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
Keywords
sleep disorders, insomnia, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, suicide risk, short-term risk, sleep dysregulation, neuroinflammation, stress, executive function, suicide warning signs
MeSH terms
Suicide, Completed, Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Sleep Wake Disorders, Suicide, Attempted, Young Adult, Suicidal Ideation

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-09-28.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-09-28.

Cited sources are checked by gpt-6-sol.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

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